Jeff Lieberman's a Lost Soul in the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies
Jeff (Squirm) Lieberman remains a critically neglected director in the horror genre. Which is why I have written about him in the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies.
There was a fantastic retrospective piece on Lieberman's career in an issue of The Dark Side a while back. Sadly, I haven't seen ANY of his films (I know, I know; it's bloody shameful) but am really interested in checking out Just Before Dawn and Blue Sunshine.
Heading over to read your article now - I love the IJOGAHS.
Excellent piece Jon, after reading it I plan to squeeze in a viewing of Squirm this weekend. Lieberman is certainly a case of a talented film maker who never managed to spread his wings and have a career similar to say Romero. As you say, Lieberman has been given scant distribution. The US DVD of Just Before Dawn might be the superior option over the UK disc, but Shriek Show botched the job and used a print of the film that was missing a scene - I think many people (including myself) avoided picking up that edition, much to my disappointment because it was a film I wanted to see for years and to this day I have yet to see the film. As for Blue Sunshine, I have no excuse, I must pick up the Synapse disc while it's still in print. Incidentally, didn't it seem like the Orion VHS of Squirm was everywhere throughout the 80's ? The sleeve depicting the showering woman menaced by some unruly plumbing remains one of the most striking and memorable sleeves of the video-era.
Many thanks, Wes. The Synapse disc of Blue Sunshine is well worth picking up. It has some great extras including Lieberman's early short 'The Ringer.' I remember the VHS sleeve well, also the lurid cover of the novelization which depicted similar worminess.
4 comments:
There was a fantastic retrospective piece on Lieberman's career in an issue of The Dark Side a while back. Sadly, I haven't seen ANY of his films (I know, I know; it's bloody shameful) but am really interested in checking out Just Before Dawn and Blue Sunshine.
Heading over to read your article now - I love the IJOGAHS.
Hope you are well.
Thanks for the heads up on that Darkside feature, James. Hope you enjoy the article.
Excellent piece Jon, after reading it I plan to squeeze in a viewing of Squirm this weekend. Lieberman is certainly a case of a talented film maker who never managed to spread his wings and have a career similar to say Romero. As you say, Lieberman has been given scant distribution. The US DVD of Just Before Dawn might be the superior option over the UK disc, but Shriek Show botched the job and used a print of the film that was missing a scene - I think many people (including myself) avoided picking up that edition, much to my disappointment because it was a film I wanted to see for years and to this day I have yet to see the film. As for Blue Sunshine, I have no excuse, I must pick up the Synapse disc while it's still in print. Incidentally, didn't it seem like the Orion VHS of Squirm was everywhere throughout the 80's ? The sleeve depicting the showering woman menaced by some unruly plumbing remains one of the most striking and memorable sleeves of the video-era.
Many thanks, Wes. The Synapse disc of Blue Sunshine is well worth picking up. It has some great extras including Lieberman's early short 'The Ringer.' I remember the VHS sleeve well, also the lurid cover of the novelization which depicted similar worminess.
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